Game of Thrones: A Day in the Life (2015)

the audience applauded

Good concept, poorly executed.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"Game of Thrones: A Day in the Life" is exactly what the title says, a 25-minute documentary that takes us into the world of the filmmakers behind Game of Thrones, the hyper-successful television series that may have won every award there is. This HBO special here is from season 5 and we get to see them produce scenes in Spain, Croatia and Northern Ireland. It is all very chronologically, which means the film starts in the morning and ends at night. There aren't really any interviews with the stars in terms of the actors, but you see the likes of Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey and others on several occasions. The focus is really on those working behind the camera and in the art departments telling us about the production and I liked it. This is even more special as I am not a Game of Thrones fan at all. But I have no problem with admitting this was nicely done. The usual gloating about how everybody loves the show is not too frequent here and this is delightful. For example, I recently watched a Sherlock behind-the-scenes documentary and it was pretty unbearable in there. But back to this one here: I give it a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out. People who love the show more than I do may actually have a great time watching.

I'm pretty keen to avoid spoilers so I didn't watch this feature until after I had already finished season 5. As a result, the news of the scale of the show was not really news, even if it is something that this film keeps hitting home throughout. Capturing work in Spain, Croatia, and Norn Iron, the day itself is not particularly fascinating in terms of events in that working period, but rather just as a taste of the norm. As such we see the specific challenges of any one shoot, the logistics of the wider project, and the sheer scale of two units shooting material that all has to match across three different countries (on this occasion – more on others).It is interesting to see the faces behind the cameras, and take this time to appreciate their work. The film doesn't spend too long with the actual cast (we only see a couple of them) but rather the behind the scenes people – not so much your jobbing crew, but producers and some other specific roles. As such it is quite interesting but never really more than a superficial featurette. We hear about stresses but never really see them, although the organizational challenge of schedules and logistics is clear just from this brief look. Not the most fascinating of pieces as a result, but interesting for what it is.